The American embassy in Baghdad is preparing to evacuate in a troubling sign for nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, as well as greater regional unrest, according to Reuters.
Three U.S. and two Iraqi sources confirmed Wednesday that preparations for a departure were underway, but did not specify what security concerns had prompted the move.
It’s more than likely that the sudden withdrawal is related to Israel’s recent threat to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, despite ongoing nuclear talks between the United States and Iran.
Ahead of a sixth round of talks set to begin this week, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned in a press briefing Wednesday that if the negotiations failed, and “conflict is imposed” on Iran that “all U.S. bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries.”
In an interview on the Pod Force One podcast released Wednesday, Donald Trump spoke about the talks, saying that he was “less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago.”
“Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,” he said.
The New York Times reported in April that Israel, which is not a participant in the ongoing nuclear talks, had made plans to Iranian nuclear sites that were waved off by Trump, who wanted to continue negotiating with Tehran. Still, Netanyahu has continued to push for military action against Iran, without assistance from the United States.
In a phone call Monday, Trump urged Netanyahu to stop talking about attacking Iran, and put an end to the leaks about his military’s plans, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN. Netanyahu told him that Iran wasn’t serious about the talks, and was simply using delaying tactics. He has some experience with that, after drawing out negotiations for a ceasefire deal in Gaza for months on end.
The exact details of the U.S. withdrawal from Baghdad are still unclear. An Iraqi foreign ministry official said that a “partial evacuation” had been confirmed due to “potential security concerns related to possible regional tensions.” A U.S. official told Reuters that the State Department was intending to execute the departure through “commercial means,” though the U.S. military was “standing by.”
In Bahrain, U.S. military dependents have been given the greenlight to temporarily evacuate due to escalating regional tensions, one U.S. official told Reuters.
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